(Newser)
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Puerto Ricans are getting another shot at voting on statehood after the island's governor on Friday approved a non-binding referendum to determine the US territory's political future. The referendum will be held on June 11 and gives voters two options: statehood or independence/free association. If a majority chooses the latter, a second referendum would be held in October and will ask voters to choose between the two, the AP reports. "Colonialism is not an option for Puerto Rico," Gov. Ricardo Rossello said. "It's a civil rights issue ... The time will come in which the United States has to respond to the demands of 3.5 million citizens seeking an absolute democracy."

Backers say the referendum could help the island overcome a decade-long economic crisis as it struggles to restructure nearly $70 billion in public debt. Around half a million people have left Puerto Rico for the US mainland the last decade, leaving the government with a shrinking tax base. Puerto Ricans have voted in four previous referendums that have resulted in no action from Congress, which has final say on any changes the island's political status. There was no clear majority in the first three referendums. In the last one, held in 2012, 54% said they wanted a change in status. Some 61% who answered a second question said they favored statehood but nearly 500,000 left the question blank, leading many to dismiss the result as illegitimate.

I've been told by Puerto Ricans that if they would vote for statehood it would greatly lower their taxes?????

GimmeaDolla

Feb 6, 2017 12:57 PM CST

They've voted before and wanted to stay a territory.

Jose A. Diaz

Feb 6, 2017 12:20 PM CST

Puerto Rico won't vote on Becoming a state of the Union. That can only happen when Statehooders find the balls to hold a Statehood "Yes or No" vote. For the fourth time in a row, they lack those balls. They offer Puerto Rican voters a gimmick in hopes of creating a fictitious majority in favor of Statehood. This time, they will, again, try to exclude the Commonwealth option that always beats them in the ballot boxes, and will only include the Independence option that is only favored by 2% of islanders. And to fog matters a little more, they will mix Free Association with the Independence option. What's going to happen is that at least half a million disenfranchised Commonwealthers will leave their ballots blanks in support of the Commonwealth option. And when you add the other half million voters that will mark the Independence/Free Association option on the ballot, we will end up with a 56% repudiation rate against Statehood, just like in 2012, when 1,878,969 electors had the chance to choose Statehood, and only 834,191 did so. That was a 56% Statehood REPUDIATION rate.